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Teacher Grant FAQ

Here are the most frequently asked questions about the Idaho CapEd Foundation grant process. Click any of the questions below to view the answer.


You are eligible if you are an educator teaching Pre-K through 12th grade in the state of Idaho at an accredited public, private, or parochial school.
We only allow each applicant to send one application per month. Because of the way applications are sent out for selection, and how a teacher can only win once per school year, teachers can only submit one application per month. The system will automatically stop additional applications from being made on the month applied in.
Yes, we award any amount up to $800. If after we've chosen eight traditional winners in a month and there's still money left over, we may pick another winner or two. This is why sometimes we award as many as nine or ten teachers in a given month.
  • First, ensure that you've entered the correct email for your principal in your grant application. You can adjust this email at any time in the Principal Approval section of the application.
  • Second, request that your IT department add "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." and "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." to the email whitelist for your email system.
  • Finally, the email should be getting to your principal's system, so ensure that they check any "spam" or "junk" folders for the email.
  • If after these, they still aren't receiving it, contact us and we’ll do our best to help.
  • Field trip expenses
  • Teacher conferences, classes, and continuing education credits
  • Projects that still need a significant amount of fund raising
  • Projects where it is clear the equipment/supplies will not be ordered by May
  • Projects that do NOT enhance the State or District curriculum for the grade level specified
We have not yet required a teacher to return unused funds. Of course, we expect the application "Cost of Project" portion to be filled out explicitly and to be followed precisely should we award the teacher. If money is left over, CapEd should have already been notified about differences in application vs. actual spending.

Yes, please communicate with the Foundation if your project changes in any way. There have been instances where teachers are not happy with materials they have ordered, or the project does not reach a high enough standard after a test run. In these cases, we want to work with you to find a way to use your grant money in a way that is acceptable. Please remember that your project was chosen by our Selection Committee based on specific standard and content, as well as its value to education.

Should your project change, its value may be lowered, thus creating a situation where you may not have won initially and someone else may have been chosen. Therefore, projects must stay as close as possible to the original idea, and the teacher needs to communicate all possible changes with the Foundation before they occur. Thank you for your cooperation in this.

Each grant winner will find a "Winner Followup" section added to their funded application with a spot for a Project Recap and Document Upload List. The expenses section is due within two months of receiving the grant and the project recap section should be submitted by May. These mandatory sections allow the Idaho CapEd Foundation and the Teacher Grant Selection Committee to see how the grant money was spent and how the project benefited students and education.

Your Teacher Dashboard should list your funded application in a new section called "Funded Projects". From there, you're able to easily access the followup section and tell at a glance if you've already entered information into either section.

We arrange a presentation time with each winning teachers' principal, and usually it is a surprise. Therefore, we try not to post the results of the winners until all the winners for a given month have been presented to and given their checks. If it is getting close to the middle of the month and you want to be sure your application is considered again in case you haven't won, we encourage you to look over your application and resubmit. Winning applications that are accidentally re-submitted are automatically filtered out of the next month's voting pool.

No. Since the check is made payable to the school, the proceeds are not taxable.

The Idaho CapEd Foundation check is made payable to the school. The Foundation will require an Award Agreement to be signed by the principal and the grant recipient stating that the proceeds of the grant will be used for the project and not for other purposes. The Foundation will provide this form during the teacher grant presentation.

No. All teachers listed in question #1 are eligible.

A teacher can only win one Teacher Grant during a school year. If a teacher has won during previous school years, and if they reapply this school year, they are eligible to win again.

No. We will award multiple teachers in the same school, and have done so in the same month, or in following months. The only restriction is that teachers who have won during the school year cannot apply or win again until a new school year begins.

Yes. Teachers may apply as many times as they want but they must resubmit their application for the month(s) they want to reapply. It is in the teacher's best interest to check the application over and make sure it follows the instructions. Some teachers have applied every month from September-March, and finally won in March, and other teachers apply for two school years and finally win in the 2nd year. Don't be discouraged! Keep applying!

The selection committee will select a project that meets these qualifications:

  • Enables improved classroom learning and teaching
  • Enhances the current State or District curriculum for the grade level specified; and
  • Cannot be funded solely with District or building funds
No, this is not us. We will only contact you through a capedfoundation.org or capedcu.com email address. If you get an email that is not from those domains, please delete it. It is most likely a phishing attempt.